Many principals across the U.S., working with regional assistance centers like the Equity Alliance, are presently engaged in exploring and improving the quality of learning opportunities for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD). The need for such work has been recognized in the fields of special and gifted education. The…

It is now nearly thirty years since Margaret Thatcher and her Conservative administration introduced the Assisted Places Scheme (their first education policy) and over ten years since New Labour abolished it. The Scheme, which was designed to provide a ladder of opportunity for academically able students from poor backgrounds to attend private…

This qualitative study examines dimensions of emotional intelligence and, more specifically, the growth of resilience through the experiences and challenges of ten refugee and newcomer adult learners who were either children or teenagers during times of conflict and war. Despite their hardships, learners interviewed in this study showed…

In 2005, Lafayette Elementary School's enrollment and standardized test scores were declining. Although the school was known for its fine programs for special needs students and English-language learners, and its diverse population offered many special opportunities to celebrate other cultures and languages, it was not making strides toward…

Project EXCITE is a program for minority students that supplements the regular school offerings with an emphasis on enhancing students' interest and performance in math and science. This study examines the experience and perceptions of 14 student participants in the program and their parents. In student and parent interviews, Project EXCITE was…

Through a longitudinal study focused on identification policy that is inclusive of underrepresented gifted students (Van Tassel-Baska & Feng, 2003; Van Tassel-Baska, Feng, & deBrux, under review; Van Tassel-Baska, Feng, & Evans, in press; Van Tassel-Baska, Johnson, & Avery, 2002), a team of researchers developed case studies of special needs…

The effort to leave no child behind is a major threat to high-ability students, whose cognitive and affective needs are increasingly falling by the wayside from default, according to gifted education advocates. They argue that the No Child Left Behind Act, with its unprecedented, high-stakes focus on students performing below grade level, leaves…

It is hard to address the needs of the estimated three million gifted middle level students who attend school in the United States (Clarenbach, 2007), and No Child Left Behind has made it even harder because school performance is determined by success on standardized tests--which often means that low performance is severely penalized and high-end…

The concept of giftedness is frequently challenged on the grounds that 1) it is a ragged or slippery concept, 2) it is inegalitarian, 3) it is culturally arbitrary, and 4) it fails to distinguish children with natural ability from children who are parentally pressured. I argue that all these charges are unfounded. We "can" distinguish between…

This article presents a comprehensive portrait of talent search testing and associated educational programs in the United States, now some 35 years after Dr. Julian Stanley originated the concept. Survey data from the six major talent search centers in the United States were used to examine the scope of talent search educational offerings,…

This monograph brings together the work of national stakeholders in gifted education and beyond gifted education on the critical issue of child poverty among students who show academic and intellectual promise for positive contributions in various areas of study. It has been compiled in order to provide the field of gifted education with a…

To identify a future research agenda with the goal of narrowing the achievement gap between underrepresented groups and their peers in gifted and talented education, The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (NRC/GT) at the University of Connecticut convened a Needs Assessment Conference in January 2005 and commissioned four…

Students identified as gifted who also display one or more areas of disability remain under-identified both in special and gifted education programs. All too often school personnel do not have the resources necessary to make decisions about this unique group of students commonly called the twice-exceptional. The purpose of this article is to…

A mentorship program in the Cleveland Public Schools has provided services to 79 gifted disadvantaged high school juniors during a 3-year period. The program was designed to expand the student's understanding of career options through association with a skilled mentor with similar career interests. Mentors worked individually with students with…

Examines definitions of "gifted" and "underachiever," identifying factors considered when assigning these terms. Reports on a study of underachieving, gifted, working-class boys that found the label "underachieving" to be falsely applied when these boys are content with their social position and life-style. (Author/AEM)